Syntax

1
Syntax

• Lecture 7
• Verb Positions

2
The mobile verb

• The verb is, of course, the head of the VP and so
  has a position inside the VP
• He could VP be a doctor
• The negative appears before the VP
• He might not VP be a doctor
• Sometimes the verb appears before the negative
• He is not VP a doctor
• Therefore, in the last case, the verb is not
  inside the VP

3
The mobile verb

• Moreover, sometimes the verb appears in front of
  the subject
• is he a doctor
• As the subject is the first element of the IP, in
  these cases the verb does not even appear to be
  inside the IP!
• is IP he a doctor

4
VP external verb positions

• When the verb is not inside the VP, what
  positions does it occupy?
• There is a big difference between the verb inside
  and outside the VP
• He might not VP be a doctor
• He is/was not VP a doctor
• Inside the VP, the verb is in its non-finite form
• Outside the VP, it is in a finite form (tensed)

5
VP external verb positions

• As tense is in the inflection position, this
  suggests that in this case the verb is in the
  inflection position

6
A question

• How can there be a VP with no V in it?

7
Some answers

• According to X-bar theory, there cannot be a VP
  that lacks a verb
• All phrases have heads
• So the verb must be in the VP
• But the verb is in the I position which is not
  inside the VP
• So the verb is in two positions
• The verb position inside the VP
• The inflection position outside the VP

8
Some answers

• The only way that something can be in two
  positions is by movement
• So the verb moves from the V position to the I
  position

9
Why would the verb move?

• The verb only moves to I when the inflection is a
  tense
• he might not VP be a doctor
• ... him to not VP be a doctor
• he is not VP -- a doctor
• We know that tense is different from other
  inflections in that it is a bound morpheme
• Clearly the verb moves to I to bind the tense
  inflection

10
V to I movement in detail

• At D-structure the verb is in V and the tense is
  in I
• As the I position is already filled, V cannot
  move into the same place
• it must attach itself to the I
• The structure we get is an adjunction of one head
  to another

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Head Adjunction

• Head adjuncts are not unheard of
• E.g. Compound nouns
• headed by nouns
• have a noun or an adjective adjoined to them
• The adjunct rule
• Xn ? Xn, Ym
• Where m 2 if n gt 0, otherwise m 0

12
V to I movement and negation

• Most verbs cannot move to I when there is a
  negative
• Auxiliary verbs (be and have) can
• He might not VP be reading
• He is not VP -- reading
• He should not VP have gone
• He has not VP -- gone
• Main verb be can
• He will not VP be rich
• He is not VP -- rich
• Possessive have can in some dialects
• He might not VP have any money
• He has nt VP -- any money

13
V to I movement and negation

• The majority of verbs cannot move in the presence
  of negation
• he read not VP -- the book
• he loved not VP -- Mary
• he thought not -- about the problem
• Instead, there is a do in the inflection
  position
• He did not VP read the book
• He did not VP love Mary
• He did not VP think about the problem

14
Do insertion as a rescue remedy

• What appears to be going on is
• The tense in I is a bound morpheme needing
  binding
• The verb cannot move past the negation (for some
  reason)
• So if the verb moves it is ungrammatical and if
  the verb does not move it is ungrammatical
• Therefore a meaningless do is used to support the
  inflection

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(No Transcript)
16
Movement Outside IP

• When the verb precedes the subject it is in a
  head position outside the IP
• We know that the first head position before the
  IP is the complementiser
• We might suppose that the verb is in C in this
  case
• CP is IP he VP -- a doctor
• Note
• The verb is finite (tensed)
• The I position is empty and cannot be filled
• be he will -- a doctor

17
Evidence that the verb is in C

• The phenomena we are looking at is usually termed
  Inversion
• There is one construction which either involves
  inversion or an overt complementiser
• if he had been a doctor, he would have cured
  himself
• had he been a doctor, he would have cured himself
• The overt complementiser and the inverted
  auxiliary are in complementary distribution
• if had he been a doctor ...

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I to C movement

• Given what we have said so far, it seems
  reasonable to assume that the verb moves to the C
  position after it has moved to the I position

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I to C movement

• Of course, the other thing that can move to C is
  an inflection

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Why do verbs move to C?

• There are two explanations for why the verb moves
  to C
• Similarly to V to I movement, there is a bound
  morpheme in C
• This morpheme appears in interrogatives, so it
  seems to be a question particle
• CP Q IP he is a doctor ? CP is-Q IP he a
  doctor
• Obviously this morpheme is phonologically empty
• Some languages have overt question particles

21
Why do verbs move to C?

• There are two explanations for why the verb moves
  to C
• Similarly to Wh-movement, I to C movement is
  semantically motivated
• Moving I to C plays a role in interpreting a
  clause as interrogative
• In these lectures, we will not attempt to choose
  between these
• The main point is that there is obviously a
  reason why I to C movement happens

22
No main verb inversion?

• At first, it appears that main verbs (apart from
  copular be and possessive have) cannot invert
• is he a doctor
• have you any money
• read you a book
• believe you in fairies
• In these cases, we use do-insertion again
• did you read a book
• do you believe in fairies
• Note do is finite, so it is inserted into I and
  then moved to C

23
No main verb inversion?

• We also get inversion with Wh-movement and in
  most cases main verbs cannot move to C
• what read you
• what did you read
• where met you Mary
• where did you meet Mary
• But there is one case where we do not get
  do-insertion
• who read the book
• who did read the book

24
No main verb inversion?

• The obvious question is why
• Three possible answers
• In this case, the complementiser position is left
  empty
• CP who IP read-s VP -- books
• In this case, the wh-phrase stays in subject
  position and nothing is in the CP
• CP -- IP who read-s VP -- books
• In this case, the verb moves to the C position
• CP who read-s IP -- VP -- books

25
An empty complementiser?

• But there doesnt seem to be much difference
  between this interrogative and others?
• So why should the complementiser be different?

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No Wh-movement

• Again, why is the complementiser different in
  this clause than others?
• How is this clause interrogative if no wh-element
  moves to specifier of CP?

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Main verb in C

• In this case the C and CP are no different to
  other interrogatives
• But we need to explain why the main verb can move
  to C here but not in other cases

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Why can V move to C sometimes?

• The big difference between the cases when V can
  and cannot move to C concerns the subject
• read you the book
• what read you
• when read you the book
• who read the book
• In all the ungrammatical cases the subject
  follows the main verb

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Why can V move to C sometimes?

• General Principle
• The English subject must precede the verb
• Only when the subject moves to the specifier of
  CP can the verb be in C and still follow it
• In all other cases the verb must stay behind the
  subject and C must be filled by an auxiliary

30
Conclusion

• There are 3 positions we find verbs in
• The verb originates in V
• It moves to I
• If I is filled with a bound morpheme
• It moves to C
• If the clause is interrogative
• Main verbs cannot move to I when there is a
  negation (do-insertion)
• Main verbs cannot move to C
• If they are not in I
• If moving to C puts them in front of the subject